Scottish Executive

Agriculture

Alasdair Morgan (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many spot checks officials from its Environment and Rural Affairs Department have made on agricultural employers in the last 12 months to assess levels of compliance with agricultural wages legislation.

Allan Wilson: Seventy-nine agricultural employers were inspected in the period March 2003-February 2004.

Agriculture

Alasdair Morgan (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many infringements of agricultural wages legislation have been recorded by its Environment and Rural Affairs Department in the last 12 months.

Allan Wilson: During the period March 2003 to February 2004, routine inspections carried out by officials identified 46 cases where employers were not fully complying with agricultural wages legislation. A further seven cases of non-compliance were identified following complaints from employees and former employees.

Alcohol Misuse

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will ensure adequate and continued funding for Alcohol Focus Scotland’s Local Councils on Alcohol to enable them to extend their counselling services, especially in rural areas.

Mr Tom McCabe: The Executive recognises the valuable contribution made by voluntary sector organisations, including local councils on alcohol, in providing services and in other action in the Plan for Action on alcohol problems. The Executive provided core funding of £228,000 in 2003-04 and will be providing £243,000 in 2004-05 for Alcohol Focus Scotland, the national umbrella body for local councils.

Alzheimer's Disease

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when the short life working group on dementia will report its findings.

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many times the short life working group on dementia has met.

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many times the short life working group on dementia will meet in total.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Short Life Working Group on Dementia expect to report in mid 2004. To date they have met on 12 November 2003 and 16 January this year. Their next meeting will be on 2 April and there may be further meetings thereafter.

Alzheimer's Disease

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to develop a national bank of carers who have undertaken specific training in providing specialist care for conditions such as Alzheimer's disease and autism and for people with physical disabilities.

Euan Robson: There are no such plans.

Architecture

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-5577 by Ms Margaret Curran on 27 February 2004, what sources of funding are available for the urgent repair of places of worship where, for religious reasons, congregations or denominational bodies have reservations about applying for lottery funding.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Repair Grants for Places of Worship Grant Scheme is run in partnership by Historic Scotland and the Heritage Lottery Fund. However, grants are offered by the two organisations separately. Accordingly, congregations and denominational bodies can choose to seek assistance from Historic Scotland only.

British Sign Language

Cathy Peattie (Falkirk East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what it is doing to provide and promote training in the use of British Sign Language.

Ms Margaret Curran: We are promoting training in British Sign Language in a number of different ways.

  For example, we are providing £78,000 over three years to the Scottish Association of Sign Language Interpreters; and this year we provided £167,000 to run courses on the use of BSL and a further £93,000 for the BSL Dictionary Project consortium.

  We are working with Deaf organisations and the Scottish Association of Sign Language Interpreters to produce plans to double the number of BSL interpreters in Scotland.

Caledonian MacBrayne

George Lyon (Argyll and Bute) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the European Commission regarding the tendering of Caledonian MacBrayne routes.

Nicol Stephen: The Executive has maintained regular contact with the European Commission to enable us to prepare for tendering the Caledonian MacBrayne services.

  I intend to meet the Commission shortly to discuss the implications of the Altmark judgement and the new Commission Guidelines for the tendering of the CalMac network.

Civil Servants

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many civil servants working for it, or the former Scottish Office, on grade B1 and above have been dismissed in each of the last 10 years, broken down by ground for dismissal.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information requested can be found in the following table.

  Staff in Band B and Above in Scottish Executive (Scottish Office) Core Departments at Time of Dismissal

  


 1994
 1995
 1996
 1997
 1998
 1999
 2000
 2001
 2002
 2003


 Dismissal for 
  disciplinary reasons
 -
 -
 1
 2
 -
 1
 1
 -
 -
 -


 Dismissal for 
  inefficiency
 1

 -
 1
 1
 -
 1
 -
 1
 1

Climate Change

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the timescale is for the review of the Scottish climate change programme.

Allan Wilson: It is proposed to time the review to coincide with a UK Government review of the UK Climate Change Programme, to which the Scottish Programme contributes. The UK Programme review will commence soon and we expect it to conclude later in 2004.

Climate Change

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to carry out the review of the Scottish climate change programme.

Allan Wilson: We are in discussion with the UK Government regarding their approach to the review of the UK Climate Change Programme, to which the Scottish Climate Change Programme contributes. The outcome of these discussions will inform the Executive’s approach to the review of the Scottish Programme.

Credit Unions

Nora Radcliffe (Gordon) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how it is supporting the work of credit unions.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: The Executive is committed to supporting the work of credit unions through implementing Unlocking the Potential - an Action Plan for the Credit Union movement in Scotland. We launched a £1.1 million capacity fund in September 2003 to increase credit unions’ ability to help low income households gain access to financial services.

Credit Unions

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what support is being given to credit unions to enable them to give low income households access to cheap credit.

Ms Margaret Curran: Mary Mulligan announced on 3 September 2003 that the Scottish Executive is allocating £400,000 to support credit unions in 2003-2004, and £500,000 per annum in each of 2004-05 and 2005-06. This funding is being targeted towards those credit unions best placed to impact financial exclusion and serve low-income households by supporting them to increase their capacity to grow membership, and to provide affordable savings and loans services to those members.

Debt

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will introduce pilot schemes for low income debtors who are unlikely to have sufficient surplus income to make repayments under the Debt Arrangement Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 2004, as recommended in the report by Citizens Advice Scotland, On the Cards: the Debt Crisis Facing Scottish CAB Clients .

Hugh Henry: The Scottish Executive wants the Scheme to help as many people as possible. There is a power in the Debt Arrangement and Attachment (Scotland) Act 2002 for pilot studies to be undertaken. This is specifically aimed at debtors with very little surplus income for whom no existing viable payment distribution facility currently exists. It is intended that a pilot study will be undertaken as soon as practicable after the scheme is operational.

Environment

Mike Pringle (Edinburgh South) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how it is addressing the issue of litter.

Allan Wilson: In July 2003 we doubled the fixed penalty fine for littering.

  We also fund Keep Scotland Beautiful (KSB) for work such as the new local environmental audit management system to audit councils’ litter clearance, and revise the code of practice on litter and refuse. KSB also does educational work such as the recent campaign against litter from cars.

  In the Anti Social Behaviour etc (Scotland) Bill we are giving powers to issue fixed penalty fines for littering to police officers, and to direct relevant bodies on carrying out their duty to clear litter.

Environment

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how the £3 million allocated in 2003 to litter reduction schemes from the Quality of Life Initiative has been spent and whether any of this money has been used to educate children in schools on the effect of littering, broken down by local authority area.

Mr Andy Kerr: In 2003-04, £3.2 million of the total allocation of £50 million for "Quality of Life" funding, was allocated by 19 local authorities under the policy theme of "Litter, Dog Fouling and Abandoned Cars". Councils submitted their proposals at the beginning of the year as to how they would spend these funds and their proposals were approved by the Executive.

  None of the councils indicated that they would be allocating funds to educate children in schools on the effect of littering.

  The total beside each council is the amount they have allocated to "Litter, Dog Fouling and Abandoned Cars":

  Aberdeen City: £30,000.

  Angus: £225,000.

  Clackmannanshire: £3,000.

  Dumfries and Galloway: £30,000.

  East Ayrshire: £40,000.

  East Dunbartonshire: £41,000.

  Edinburgh City: £650,000.

  Fife: £400,000.

  Glasgow City: £701,000.

  Inverclyde: £25,000.

  Midlothian: £230,000.

  Moray: £37,000.

  North Ayrshire: £95,000.

  North Lanarkshire: £50,000.

  Perth and Kinross: £282,000.

  Renfrewshire: £240,000.

  Scottish Borders: £60,000

  Stirling: £74,000.

General Practitioners

Mr Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that people living in remote and rural areas are adequately served under the new GP contract.

Malcolm Chisholm: The new GMS contract is supported by 33% increased investment in primary care over three years, allocated through a funding formula designed to respond to the needs of remote and rural communities. The contract guarantees that patients across Scotland will continue to be offered at least the range of services they currently receive and the contract’s quality and outcomes framework will incentivise practices in all areas to improve those services.

Historic Scotland

Mr Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to encourage Historic Scotland to focus on building partnerships with stakeholders and customers and be open to input from external bodies.

Mr Frank McAveety: Following its review, Historic Scotland will continue to develop its relationships with stakeholders and customers and to welcome dialogue with external bodies. Recent examples of this policy in practice include working with the City Councils in Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverness and Stirling to develop City Heritage Trusts; supporting and meeting regularly with the Built Environment Forum for Scotland (BEFS); and developing concordats with key partners in the historic environment, most recently with the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historic Monuments of Scotland and soon with the National Trust for Scotland. Historic Scotland also intends to consult more frequently and formally with stakeholders on policy development.

Homelessness

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to Helping Homeless People: Delivering the Action Plan for Prevention and Effective Response – Homeless Monitoring Group First Report – January 2004, whether East Lothian Council’s homelessness strategy has been fully assessed against the recommendations of the Homelessness Task Force and, if so, what conclusions have been reached in respect of the adequacy of the strategy.

Ms Margaret Curran: A cross sector panel is assessing all homelessness strategies against a common framework drawn up by Communities Scotland in consultation with the homelessness monitoring group.

  East Lothian’s homelessness strategy has been assessed by the panel and feedback has been given to the council. Scottish Executive officials will liaise with the Council regarding its response to this feedback and its review of the strategy in light of the recommendations contained within the homelessness section of the pathfinder inspection report published by Communities Scotland in January.

Housing

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any studies are planned to assess the impact of rising house prices on first time buyers in rural areas.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Scottish Executive commissions research on a regular basis to help assess the need for new affordable housing which takes account of house prices and incomes of first time buyers.

Housing

Murray Tosh (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been made available through Communities Scotland for new-build housing in the social rented sector in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area, and how much has been made available provisionally on the same basis this year.

Ms Margaret Curran: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

  The table shows the amount of funding that has been made available through Communities Scotland for social rented sector housing in each of the last five years (1998-99 to 2002-03), broken down by local authority area, and how much planned expenditure is expected in 2003-04.

  Table 1 – Communities Scotland - Expenditure by Local Authority Area on Social Rented Sector Housing (1998-99 to 2003-04)

  

 Unitary Authority
 1998-99
 1999-00
 2000-01
 2001-02
 2002-03
 2003-04 
  1


 
 £m
 £m
 £m
 £m
 £m
 £m


 Aberdeenshire
 3.0
 3.5
 4.5
 4.9
 6.6
 6.3


 Angus
 4.6
 3.1
 2.5
 4.0
 2.6
 2.2


 Argyll & Bute
 3.8
 5.0
 3.8
 3.5
 3.1
 3.9


 City of Aberdeen
 3.2
 4.0
 4.8
 4.0
 3.9
 3.6


 City of Dundee
 3.5
 5.6
 7.4
 5.8
 5.0
 6.6


 City of Edinburgh
 15.3
 14.6
 15.1
 12.8
 12.9
 16.2


 City of Glasgow
 40.0
 45.5
 51.9
 53.9
 58.1
 60.0


 Clackmannanshire
 0.3
 0.9
 0.9
 2.7
 1.3
 1.7


 Dumfries & 
  Galloway
 1.8
 2.5
 4.5
 4.3
 4.3
 5.2


 East Ayrshire
 0.4
 0.8
 2.4
 1.0
 1.1
 1.3


 East Dunbartonshire
 0.9
 1.6
 1.4
 0.6
 0.1
 1.4


 East Lothian
 2.0
 1.8
 1.0
 0.7
 1.0
 2.0


 East Renfrewshire
 2.0
 1.1
 2.6
 1.6
 1.3
 2.4


 Falkirk
 1.5
 1.2
 1.8
 2.1
 1.8
 1.6


 Fife
 6.5
 6.7
 6.5
 7.7
 5.7
 7.7


 Highland
 3.9
 4.9
 6.4
 7.5
 9.1
 9.9


 Inverclyde
 5.6
 5.8
 5.9
 4.8
 6.1
 6.3


 Midlothian
 1.6
 0.5
 0.7
 0.9
 1.4
 1.3


 Moray
 0.9
 0.9
 0.1
 1.3
 0.4
 1.5


 North Ayrshire
 2.2
 2.9
 2.0
 2.4
 3.6
 3.6


 North Lanarkshire
 8.0
 8.5
 11.1
 7.6
 10.2
 10.6


 Orkney
 0.8
 0.9
 1.2
 1.9
 1.3
 1.3


 Perth and Kinross
 4.2
 4.8
 4.7
 4.9
 4.9
 6.0


 Renfrewshire
 6.6
 9.6
 8.8
 10.1
 8.9
 10.6


 Shetland
 1.0
 0.4
 0.3
 0.6
 1.3
 0.7


 South Ayrshire
 2.2
 3.5
 3.5
 4.1
 3.4
 3.9


 South Lanarkshire
 5.2
 6.7
 5.0
 11.1
 8.8
 8.9


 Stirling
 1.0
 1.8
 1.7
 3.3
 3.1
 3.7


 The Scottish Borders
 2.5
 2.9
 3.0
 4.2
 2.7
 3.2


 West Dunbartonshire
 6.9
 5.0
 5.8
 9.3
 6.4
 7.4


 Western Isles
 0.2
 1.5
 0.5
 1.3
 1.7
 2.0


 West Lothian
 3.0
 2.8
 3.6
 2.2
 2.6
 4.5



  Note: 1. Planned.

Justice

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to roll out the restorative justice pilot scheme in Glasgow across the rest of Scotland.

Hugh Henry: Almost all local authorities have Restorative Justice schemes, with around 3,000 places available across Scotland. We intend to double   that number by 2006. I recently announced additional funding of £3 million   to local authorities to help them achieve this.

Justice

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish its proposals for the review of family law.

Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Executive is committed to reforming family law for all of Scotland’s people. Building on our 2000 White Paper, Parents and Children. We are in the process of finalising a consultation paper, which will be published in the near future.

Justice

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to pilot early intervention schemes to assist divorced parents in agreeing access packages for their children, similar to those being piloted by Her Majesty's Government.

Cathy Jamieson: The Executive shares the interest of the UK Government in promoting agreements by separating parents in relation to contact and residence matters affecting children, without the need for court intervention.

  To this end, we provide grant aid to Family Mediation Scotland and ten local mediation services to assist separating parents reach a negotiated settlement for their children. Whilst we have no immediate plans to pilot early intervention schemes on the lines proposed by the UK Government, we will consider their outcomes with interest.

  The Children (Scotland) Act 1995 requires parents to consider the best interests of children in all matters affecting them, including contact and residence arrangements upon separation. Children have an opportunity to contribute their views which are taken into account in court proceedings.

Local Government

Mr Bruce McFee (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why the powers conferred under section 15 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 have never been exercised.

Andy Kerr: Sections 15 to 17 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 would place a duty on local authorities to ensure that the political balance on council committees reflects the political balance on the council itself. This section has not been brought into force in Scotland, primarily because ministers have wished the issue to be addressed on a voluntary basis rather than by the imposition of a statutory duty on councils.

Local Government Finance

George Lyon (Argyll and Bute) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what one-off payments it made to Argyll and Bute Council in (a) 1999-2000, (b) 2000-01, (c) 2001-02, (d) 2002-03 and (e) 2003-04.

Mr Andy Kerr: The number of one-off payments made and the total amount paid to Argyll and Bute Council is shown in the table. The information is only available from 2001-02.

  

 Year
 Number of Payments
 Amount


 2001-02
 72
 £18,169,168.83


 2002-03
 193
 £16,567,338.56


 2003-04
 133
 £8,788,825.63

Modern Apprenticeships

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the completion rate is for people enrolling on the modern apprenticeship programme.

Mr Jim Wallace: Of those who completed or otherwise left the programme between March 2003 and December 2003, 52% achieved a modern apprenticeship.

Money Advice

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that there will be sufficient provision of high quality money advice and how such provision will be reviewed to guarantee that resources are made available to meet demand.

Ms Margaret Curran: Since 2002 the Executive has allocated £3 million per annum to local authorities to increase the provision of money advice services in Scotland. This is complemented by Executive funding of £0.5 million per annum for Citizens Advice Scotland and Money Advice Scotland to provide support and training for the money advice field and ensure that a quality service is delivered to their clients.

  Mary Mulligan announced on 26 January 2004 additional funding of £4 million to help meet increasing demand for front-line money advice services, as well as to support specific vulnerable groups of people for whom money advice is difficult to access.

  The Executive’s funding will be kept under review based on information provided by local authorities and other providers of money advice services, who are able to identify demands on services, including demand arising from the impending Debt Arrangement Scheme which will be available later this year.

NHS Equipment

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) type, (b) age and (c) technological quality is of each item of (i) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and (ii) computerised tomography (CT) scanning equipment in each NHS board area and what the Scottish standard is for such equipment in each such category.

Malcolm Chisholm: This information to (a), (b) and (c) is not held centrally. There are no specific Scottish Standards, but all equipment is CE marked and both British and European standards are applied in accordance with procurement policies and procedures.

National Health Service

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions have taken place with NHS boards regarding additional unplanned cost pressures arising from the new consultants' contract and GP contract.

Malcolm Chisholm: An NHS employers’ reference group for the consultants’ contract has been meeting on a regular basis since it was established in November 2003. This group, which includes management representatives from a number of NHSScotland boards and Scottish Executive staff, is overseeing a co-ordinated and consistent approach to planning for the introduction of the consultants’ contract and has issued regular advice to all NHSScotland employers to help take forward this work. The group has examined in detail the financial aspects of the contract and has been carrying out an assessment of costs across all NHS boards.

  Planning for introduction of the new GMS Contract on 1 April 2004 has been on-going since the positive outcome of the UK-wide GP ballot in June 2003. A national reference group, comprised of staff from across the NHS boards in Scotland and Scottish Executive representatives, has been operating since last year to oversee the implementation process. A finance working group, with its membership drawn from finance directors across NHS boards and the Scottish Executive, has been meeting on a regular basis to examine the financial envelope for GMS in Scotland and identify any likely pressures resulting from implementation of the new contract. These discussions are current and on-going.

National Health Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to review the funding structure of the Sleep Centre in Edinburgh and return to the previous arrangement of central government funding rather than the current structure of funding by individual NHS boards.

Malcolm Chisholm: There are no plans to return to the previous arrangement of national NHS funding. The criteria for a national service include low volume and high unit costs. As the sleep service does not meet these criteria, it cannot be considered as a national service. Funding of the Sleep Centre is a matter for NHS Lothian, to be considered with other service priorities in the board area.

National Health Service

Alasdair Morgan (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has monitored GPs’ out-of-hours call-out rates since the start of the NHS 24 service.

Malcolm Chisholm: Information on GP out-of-hours call out rates is not available centrally at this stage. However, we are currently carrying out an evaluation of NHS 24 which will look at issues such as call out rates. The data is, therefore, being monitored and will be released later in the year.

National Health Service

Alasdair Morgan (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made, or will make, an assessment of whether any patients have been directed by NHS 24 to inappropriate or inaccessible treatment centres.

Malcolm Chisholm: NHS 24 aims to refer patients to the right local service within the appropriate time based on the information given by the caller. Referral arrangements are always agreed with local NHS service providers.

  NHS 24 has investigated a small number of complaints from patients and NHS Scotland partners on the referral of the patients.

National Health Service

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to ensure equal access to podiatry treatment in the NHS.

Malcolm Chisholm: The planning and provision of NHS services is a matter for NHS boards. The issue of access to NHS chiropody services is a matter for clinical decision in the light of the health needs of individual patients.

National Health Service

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what national evidence-based practice protocols there are to ensure that patients requiring podiatry care receive such care.

Malcolm Chisholm: NHS boards are required to ensure that the services they provide meet the standards set for the NHS. NHS Quality Improvement Scotland has responsibility for this area and published standards for NHSScotland are available at www.nhshealthquality.org.

  In addition podiatrists providing NHS services are required to meet standards set by professional and regulatory bodies. The Health Professions Council provides information on existing standards for podiatrists at:

  www.hpc-uk.org/publications/standards/Standards_of_Proficiency_Chiropodists.pdf; and further information is available from the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists at www.feetforlife.org.

National Health Service

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether elderly people entitled to free personal care are also entitled to free NHS podiatry care.

Malcolm Chisholm: The planning and provision of NHS services is a matter for NHS boards. The issue of access to NHS chiropody services is a matter for clinical decision in the light of the health needs of individual patients.

  Free personal care is intended to provide people with support with daily tasks, including personal hygiene which can be undertaken without the intervention of a healthcare professional.

National Health Service

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action will be taken against any NHS health authorities that do not provide adequate and appropriate foot care in line with clinical need and as part of preventative care.

Malcolm Chisholm: If there is clear evidence that an NHS board has failed to provide adequate and appropriate foot care in line with clinical need as determined by the appropriate healthcare professional the issue would be dealt with through the Health Department’s performance management arrangements with the NHS board concerned.

National Health Service

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will announce its incentive package to attract allied health professionals to the NHS, as referred to in A Partnership for a Better Scotland ; whether the package will include contributions towards student loan repayments of such professionals, and what the cost of the package will be.

Malcolm Chisholm: A Partnership for a Better Scotland set out a range of initiatives to improve the delivery of public services, including the NHS. A number of the initiatives have the aim of developing and supporting staff in NHSScotland and include the introduction of further measures to attract and retain GPs and other health staff with a wider range of incentive packages. This partnership agreement commitment is under consideration, alongside a number of other commitments, and the details of the proposals will be announced as soon as possible.

Pensions

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what assistance it provides to those wishing to access the pensioner credit scheme, in light of the impact of the scheme on services it provides to pensioners.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including pension credit, and is supporting the implementation in Scotland by disseminating information and encouraging applications by a variety of means, including: benefits healthchecks through our central heating programme; publishing agenda newsletter for older people; and advising the pension service on the content and distribution of the Scottish version of the pensioners' guide.

  This is in addition to the UK government’s current uptake campaign and application advisory services. Applicants are recommended to apply through, and get advice from, the pension credit application helpline on freephone 0800 99 1234. The Minister for Finance and Public Services welcomed the latest uptake campaign on 1 March 2004. A copy of his statement can be read at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/pages/news/2004/03/SENW1047.aspx

Pensions

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has with regard to the uptake of the pensioner credit scheme, in light of the impact of the scheme on services it provides to pensioners.

Ms Margaret Curran: This information is in the public domain, available from the Department of Work and Pensions at:

  www.pensioncreditinfo.gov.uk/communication.asp.

  As of 31st January 2004, around 229,000 individuals in Scotland were receiving pension credit, with an average award of £42 per week.

Pensions

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to Her Majesty's Government with regard to the complexity of the application form for the pensioner credit scheme, in light of the impact of the scheme on services the Executive provides to pensioners.

Ms Margaret Curran: None.

Police

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will next meet Fife Constabulary and what issues it intends to discuss.

Hugh Henry: The Executive is in regular contact with Fife Constabulary, as well as other forces, and takes such opportunities to discuss a range of issues.

Post Office

Mike Pringle (Edinburgh South) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what resources are available to assist the continued opening of post offices serving communities in urban areas.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: The Executive recognises that post offices can play a critical role in providing socially important services and often act as an anchor for other local retail activity.

  That is why we have made £2 million available until 2005 to sustain and improve sub post offices in deprived urban areas.

Protection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003

Michael McMahon (Hamilton North and Bellshill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Protection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003 will be implemented.

Euan Robson: Implementation of the Protection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003 is to be phased in starting in June 2004. Organisations will not have a duty to make referrals to the list until the autumn in recognition of the time required to gear up to meet the new duties.

Protection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003

Michael McMahon (Hamilton North and Bellshill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to introduce an advertising campaign to promote the Protection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003 and, if so, how such a campaign will be implemented.

Euan Robson: There are no plans to introduce an advertising campaign to promote the Protection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003. However, over 10,000 information notes to raise awareness of the Act and its implications have already been widely distributed and a targeted ongoing communication strategy is being developed.

Public Private Partnerships

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what priority will be given to the educational value of rural schools in decisions in respect of realising the asset value of rural school buildings for the financing of its second phase PPP/PFI projects.

Peter Peacock: The detailed content and financing of school PPP projects are matters for the local authorities. They will take a wide range of issues into account in considering the structure of their projects, and the future configuration of their school estate.

Rural Development

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when decisions will be made with regard to bids for the Rural Challenge Fund for 2004-05 and when it will announce the successful applicants.

Allan Wilson: I hope to be in a position soon to announce decisions on the 2004-05 Scottish Rural Partnership Fund, of which Rural Challenge Fund is a strand. The Executive recognises that applicants need to know the outcome and will let them know whether they have been successful as soon as possible.

School Curriculum

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is in respect of the importance of music, physical education and drama teaching within schools.

Peter Peacock: The 5-14 National Guidelines on Expressive Arts encourage schools to provide varied and stimulating experiences for pupils in all of these areas and I have recently announced that we would like to see more teachers working in these areas.

School Curriculum

Mike Pringle (Edinburgh South) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many children currently learn Russian in secondary schools.

Peter Peacock: This information is not held centrally. However information on examination presentations for 1998-2002 is provided in the Scottish Qualifications Authority Annual Statistical Report 2002 . Their report incorporating the data for 2003 will be published in June/July this year but I can inform you that the following numbers of pupils were presented for Russian in 2003:

  7 at Standard Grade

  7 at Access 3

  1 at Intermediate 1

  2 at Intermediate 2

  23 at Higher, and;

  4 at Advanced Higher.

Scottish Executive Staff

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what costs it has incurred on parking fines in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Scottish Executive Staff Handbook makes it clear that staff incurring car parking fines for parking illegally whilst on official business will not be reimbursed from official funds.

  However there are occasions when circumstances arise which are beyond the control of officials and which prevent officials returning to parked vehicles in time to avoid incurring parking fines. Such occasions are very exceptional but do occasionally arise. Examples are where meetings involving ministers and visitors supported by an official from another building overrun the scheduled time allocated. Between 2000-04 13 occasions have arisen where the Scottish Executive has reimbursed officials for car parking fines incurred. A clear audit trail outlining the individuals reasons for applying for reimbursement is held on file for audit inspection.

  There were also four occasions during the period 2002-04 where government car service drivers received a parking ticket. This occurred when drivers were dropping off papers or ministerial boxes to destinations where no immediate parking provision existed. Also the Scottish Executive van service has incurred three parking tickets when transporting secure mail where the driver has required to park the vehicle directly outside a building and visit a reception area to obtain a signature before handing over official papers.

  Information about parking fines (which is only available from year 2000) is as follows:

  

 Year
 Number of Parking 
  Fines
 Area

 Costs Incurred


 2000
 4
 Edinburgh
 £80


 2001
 2
 Edinburgh
Glasgow
 £70



 2002
 7
 Edinburgh
 £240


 2003
 5
 Edinburgh
Glasgow
 £135



 2004
 2

 Edinburgh
Highland
 £50

Skye Bridge

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much was collected in tolls on the Skye Bridge in 2002-03.

Nicol Stephen: Total tolls collected on the Skye Bridge in the financial year 2002-03 amounted to £3,960,852.

Social Inclusion

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much money is allocated to each further education (FE) college to address social inclusion.

Mr Jim Wallace: Because of the fundamental role that FE colleges have in encouraging people of all ages and from different backgrounds to participate in post-school learning, a large proportion of the resources available to FE colleges can be associated in some way with the promotion of social inclusion.

  The figures provided in the table relate to the specific elements that cover the additional costs of social inclusion, over and above the standard funding per student place, provided to colleges by the Scottish Further Education Funding Council in 2003-04.

  

 Further Education 
  College
 Amount


 Aberdeen College
 £331,920 
  


 Angus College *
 £119,811 
  


 Anniesland College
 £555,844 
  


 Ayr College
 £230,829 
  


 Banff & Buchan 
  College of Further Education *
 £104,137 
  


 The Barony College 
  *
 £33,467 
  


 Borders College *
 £114,326 
  


 Cardonald College
 £633,488 
  


 Central College of 
  Commerce
 £404,415 
  


 Clackmannan College 
  of Further Education
 £75,755 
  


 Clydebank College
 £359,852 
  


 Coatbridge College
 £337,907 
  


 Cumbernauld College
 £77,683 
  


 Dumfries and Galloway 
  College *
 £270,695 
  


 Dundee College
 £674,651 
  


 Edinburgh's Telford 
  College
 £473,449 
  


 Elmwood College *
 £122,774 
  


 Falkirk College of 
  Further and Higher Education
 £229,615 
  


 Fife College of Further 
  & Higher Education
 £242,033 
  


 Glasgow College of 
  Building and Printing
 £371,661 
  


 Glasgow College of 
  Food Technology
 £318,800 
  


 Glasgow College of 
  Nautical Studies
 £268,946 
  


 Glenrothes College
 £106,175 
  


 Inverness College 
  * 
 £166,960 
  


 James Watt College 
  of Further & Higher Education
 £913,548 
  


 Jewel and Esk Valley 
  College
 £161,225 
  


 John Wheatley College
 £450,295 
  


 Kilmarnock College
 £299,128 
  


 Langside College
 £448,915 
  


 Lauder College
 £130,288 
  


 Lews Castle College 
  *** 
 £90,089 
  


 Moray College * 
 £87,096 
  


 Motherwell College
 £558,615 
  


 North Glasgow College
 £510,312 
  


 Oatridge Agricultural 
  College *
 £38,006 
  


 Perth College 
 £161,763 
  


 Reid Kerr College 
  *
 £531,215 
  


 South Lanarkshire 
  College
 £117,386 
  


 Stevenson College 
  Edinburgh
 £388,524 
  


 Stow College
 £400,012 
  


 The North Highland 
  College ** 
 £213,306 
  


 West Lothian College
 £70,719 
  


 Orkney College *** 
  
 £63,225 
  


 Shetland College 
  of Further Education *** 
 £17,121 
  



  Source: Scottish Further Education Funding Council.

  Notes:

  1. These figures consist of the entry costs social inclusion premium; retention and achievement social inclusion premium; and remote student element of the core funding provided to colleges by the Scottish Further Education Funding Council (SFEFC).

  2. In addition to the figures shown above, colleges in receipt of the remote student element also received a remote institutional based element at a base rate of £191,359 for 2003-04. Colleges that are extremely remote but on the mainland received a 15% increase on this base rate and island colleges received a 30% increase. Remote colleges are marked *, extremely remote **, and island ***. SFEFC is currently reviewing the way in which the funding methodology takes account of remoteness.

Social Work

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to raise awareness of the fast track scheme for social work students, as announced on 12 February 2004.

Euan Robson: Advertisements for the Graduate Fast Track Scheme appeared in the recruitment pages of:

  The Herald, The Scotsman, the Press & Journal and the Dundee Courier on 13 February;

  the Sunday Herald, Scotland on Sunday and the Sunday Times on 15 February;

  Metro on 17, 19 and 24 February;

  Works for Me, The Orcadian, Highland News Group and John O’ Groats Journal on 19 February;

  The Northern Times, West Highland Free Press, Shetland Times and Orkney Today on 20 February;

  The Southern Reporter on 4 March; and

  The Dumfries & Galloway Standard on 5 March.

  Four hundred posters advertising the scheme were distributed to contact names and organisations provided by the Council for Racial Equality and to delegates who had attended the 10 February Glasgow conference on Informed Choices: Positive Opportunities.

  The scheme is also advertised on the website of the Scottish Institute for Excellence in Social Work Education, www.sieswe.org, the webpages of the National Workforce Group for social work & social care staff in Scotland:

  www.scotland.gov.uk/acaringworkforce and on www.careinscotland.co.uk, the website of the Care in Scotland campaign.

Social Work

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many students are studying for a degree in social work, broken down by local authority area.

Mr Jim Wallace: In 2001-02 there were 2,820 students studying Social Work at degree level or above, within Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Scotland. Of this total 1,533 were postgraduate students and 1,287 were first degree level students. The distribution by local authority of these students is given in Table 1:

  Table 1: Social Work* Students studying at postgraduate and First Degree level within HEIs in Scotland by Local Authority of HEI, 2001-02

  

 Local Authority 
  Area
 Total


 Total
 2,820


 City of Edinburgh
 226


 City of Aberdeen
 458


 Renfrewshire
 466


 City of Glasgow
 738


 City of Dundee
 737


 City of Stirling
 195



  Source : Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).

  Note: *Social Work is taken from the Social Studies subject grouping. This includes Social Work as a single, joint or combined subject within the social studies group of subjects.

Sport

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what events it has planned to mark the European Year of Education through Sport.

Mr Frank McAveety: I was delighted to participate in the formal launch of the Year in Scotland on 10 February and we will take every opportunity to promote the aims and objectives of the Year and the projects that will be supported through European Commission funding.

Teachers

Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive how many extra physical education teachers it will recruit over the next academic year and whether it has any plans to create more places at the Scottish Centre for Physical Education, Sport and Leisure Studies.

Peter Peacock: The Executive does not employ teachers directly. However we recognise the vital importance of physical activity in schools and are committed to providing local authorities with extra resource to allow them to improve provision in this area.

Tourism

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to promote Scotland as a cruise liner destination; what steps are being taken to market theme cruises in particular; which organisations are responsible for each such promotion and marketing activity; what mechanisms are available to deliver such activities; what the role of Cruise Scotland is in relation to such activities, and what funding will be provided to Cruise Scotland or any other appropriate body for these purposes.

Mr Frank McAveety: Cruise Scotland was formed in 2001 as marketing consortium, funded entirely by membership fees, to promote Scotland as a destination for cruise liners. With a membership consisting of a group of area tourist boards and ports, for which cruise liner business is a relevant market, Cruise Scotland is currently the only mechanism available to continuously promote Scotland as a cruise liner destination. On a national scale Cruise Scotland also works in joint promotions with Cruise UK, a VisitBritain funded initiative.

  Cruise Scotland has developed themed itineraries in the past according to demand from operators. It is developing further suggested itineraries based on ports of call, time available onshore and various themes including golf, gardens and historic attractions.

  Apart from some relevant overseas destination marketing carried out by VisitScotland and the local activities of other marketing consortia and private businesses, only Cruise Scotland is currently promoting such activity specifically for Scotland.

Water Services

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what long-term plans it has to address any impact of the withdrawal of the Transitional Water and Wastewater Charges Scheme on domestic consumers and when any such plans will be made public.

Allan Wilson: The Executive announced on 3 February that the Transitional Reduction Scheme will continue for a further three years. Households on council tax benefit will receive a reduction in their water and sewerage bills in the financial year 2004-05 where their bills exceed a threshold of £240.

  The Executive intends to put in place arrangements to ensure that the scheme is phased out in a measured and gradual fashion over the financial years 2005-07 so as to minimise the impact of withdrawal. It will consult the local authorities about these arrangements.

  In the long term, the best way to minimise the impact of water charges on all customers is to ensure that Scottish Water delivers its services at an efficient cost. To that end the Executive has put in place regulatory arrangements that require Scottish Water to make substantial savings in its costs.

Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003

Eleanor Scott (Highlands and Islands) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the recent decision by Moray Council on a £95 million flood management scheme complies with the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003.

Allan Wilson: At this time, the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003 does not yet apply to the decisions of councils.

  We are currently developing the necessary secondary legislation to implement the provisions of that Act.